I challenge you to culture the rind. YOu will find some amount of some strain of BL. Just remember, there are so many that you might not realize it even. But the fact is in order for a rind to form, some chemical change has to happen. Salt will not stop a BL, it will stop molds and yeast. We will salt a rind so that only the things we want will grow. Even a 'clean' rind has been altered chemically due to action of aerobic bacteria. Otherwise, it would dry out and split and have problems.
As for drying a rind,
For Appenzeller it is customary to set the cheeses out of the brine for one or two days before you will wash them. I typically do this on a cheese with a high moisture content -that is, something I cook to less than 115 degrees such as Appenzeller would be when it is made properly. So like a Mutschli I would also dry for a day before I wash it.
you can really start this washing any time. I had some cheeses that were salt washed, and after several months I decided I wanted them to have a little more of a distinct look so I washed with a red wine based solution. I got a good rind, just like your normally would.
You are not getting action because your temperature is much too low. You need to be at 55 degrees.
As a general rule, the 'cleaner' we want our rind -the less action and Schmier- the colder we will make the room. The heavier and gooier we will have a temperature closer to 60 or even a little above.
That's why when we make an Emmentaler, we first form the rind for a week or two in a cold room. If we put it straight into the warm room then the rind will get really gooey and that's not appropriate for this cheese. But some times for something like my Mutschli I want a sticky gooey rind so I'll wash it for a few days at room temperature.